A LIFETIME OF SHOOTING STARS: PALM SPRINGS FINE ART FAIR HONORS GREG GORMAN


by thom senzee An illustrious career as one of the world’s top photographers of movie


stars, blockbuster filmmakers, recording artists and actors will be honored at the Palm Springs Fine Art FairFriday, February 14 as organizers present Greg Gorman with a lifetime achievement award. “I started taking pictures in 1968,” Gorman told The Rage Monthly during a


recent phone interview from the famed photographer’s home in northern California. “My first camera was a Honeywell-Pentax, borrowed from a friend. But of course, my ideal camera at that time would have been a Hasselblad.” The future celebrity photographer ended up with the legendary Minolta


SR-T 101 as his own first camera. Though, these days his favorite instrument is his Canon 5D Mark III, because of its low-light capabilities. Yet it has never been the hardware that made this photographer great. “I don’t know if photographers see things differently than anyone else,” says Gorman. “But photographers do have an eye and opinion about the things they see that might distinguish them from other people.” Gorman has eyes like no other for light and for shadow—and for the


way each evokes emotion from the human face and figure. His sometimes moody—always dramatic and frequently sensual images are never dull—im- ages which have made him the photographer of choice for Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman, not to mention his good friends, John Waters and the late Andy Warhol. In the beginning, it was rock-and-roll that drew Gorman to the lens. Re- member that borrowed Honeywell Pentax camera? Gorman took it to a Jimi Hendrix concert to shoot photos of the iconic singer-guitarist and rock god. “Some of my early jobs were album covers for Leon Russell and The Byrds,” says Gorman, recalling the period before he began doing still photography for the movie industry. “But the main part of my career really took off with the filmTootsie, which starred Dustin Hoffman in 1981.” He still remembers the hours spent in Hoffman’s dressing room on the set.


“I would sit in the dressing room with Dustin in the early hours with him in full makeup as Dorothy,” Gorman says. “He was funny—making jokes in his skullcap and eye lashes. Dustin has a fantastic sense of humor.” That sense of humor helped alleviate some of the anxiety on the set of the film, according to Gorman. “Sydney Pollack was concerned about making this big-budget film with this risky plot. But, of course,Tootsie was a huge success.” As actor and Warhol acolyte Udo Kier recently noted, “Greg’s work docu-


ments that peculiar obsession of the 21st century celebrity.” Indeed, Gorman has photographed an array of movie stars ranging from Bette Davis to Leon- ardo Dicaprio. His unique style made him a darling of advertising campaigns featuring celebrities for Rolex, Levi Strauss and L.A. Eyeworks. It is the male form that Gorman is perhaps best known for, captured in his


strong, black-and-white stills. It might even be said that his photography defined the visual archetype of physical masculinity in the late 20th and early 21stcentury. His books of photography number in the dozens and include Greg Gor-


man, Volumes I and II, Journal of the 21st Century: Greg Gorman, and In Their Youth: Early Portraits. The latter title features some of the most energetic and provocative images of household-name celebrities, including Tom Cruise, before they were household names. When Gorman is not working at his studio in the Hollywood Hills or teach- ing his workshop, or enjoying his home in the Mendicino wine country—and


“I don’t know if photographers see things differently than anyone else. But photographers do have an eye and opinion about the things they see that might distinguish them from other people.”


yes, Gorman does have his own wine label, called GKG, with fruit sourced via Orin Swift winery—Gorman is likely in Europe. “I love Europe,” Gorman says. “I’ll spend four to five months at a time there.” Recently, the photographer completed a tour of Scandinavia, which included stops in Zurich, Copenhagen and Berlin. In Berlin, he helped open an iconoclastic (not to mention, very prestigious) exhibition of his work with that of Helmut Newton at the Helmut Newton Foundation. “It’s kind of interesting to see Helmut Newton’s famous female nudes juxtaposed with my male nudes,” Gorman muses. Gorman says he is deeply humbled and grateful, yet somewhat surprised to


be receiving lifetime achievement awards. After all, he is far from retired from photography—although he has limited the amount of work he does for films these days. “I’m 64 years old, and I’m working all the time,” says Gorman. “While I still do the movie stuff, I only do that these days with a few close friends.” Asked who was the most satisfying celebrity to work with, Gorman is re-


luctant to single out one of the myriad stars he has worked with through the years. “Bette Midler was always fun to photograph,” he said. “Michael (Jack- son) was fantastic to photograph. Two weeks out, he’d call me about what to do. Michael was perfect, always came early; always stayed late; always gave 110 percent.” Udo Kier will present Greg Gorman with the “Photographer of the Year”


award at the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Friday, February 14 from 5-6 p.m. There will also be a VIP reception and book signing by Gorman.


For more information about Greg Gorman’s workshops, offered four times per year, which are accessible to aspiring photographers, visitgormanworkshops.com.


For more information or to purchase tickets go topalmspringsfineartfair.com. Palm Springs 44 RAGE monthlyRAGE monthly | FEBRUARY 2014


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